The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-10-01
INTERESTING TESTS.
A Dogs Ability to Follow = Trail scies
tifczlly Examined.

- DOGS Anutty TO FOLLOW = lT8n SCloo~
tincaIly Examined.
DR.. G. j. Romanes, by his careful OBJ
servations and happy congratulations,
has made himself the representative OF
the growing science of comparative
psychology. DIR. Romanes has made
an important study on the method by
which his dog follows the scent of his
master. The observations were made
ON DR.. Romane's female setter, an ami
NAL very much attached to him. They
were made on the grounds adjoining
his house. and number of precautions
not easily described were taken.
l. When DIR. Romanes walks over
the ground with his hunting boots on,
the dog follows the scent with tho
greatest readiness. 2. II she is put to
the track of stranger she pays no at
tention to it, 5. The dog was led into
the room when preparations were go
ing on for an outing. but instead Of d..
Romanes going out the gamekeeper
(whose scent he follows next after DIR.
Romanes), went; when set free the an
imal ut first followed the track, but
finding that her master was not with
the gamekeepcr, returned. 4. The
next experiment was a very ingenious
one. Twelve men walked in Indian
file, 80 that they all trod in the same
footsteps. thus producing a conglom-
crate of olfactory impressions. DIR.
Romanes headed the company. so
that the traces of his steps
should be most obliterated; and,
after walking thus two hundred
yards, the first six men walked in one
direction, the last six in another. The
dog quickly ran along the route fol-
lowed by the twelve, overshot the point
of division, but soon returned and fol-
lowed the direction taken by the six
headed by DR.. Romanes. A. A num-
Der of experiments were made to ascer-
tain what part of DR.. Romane's person
or of his apparel gave the clue to the
animal. 1t was suspected to be the
hunting boots, and this proved correct.
A stranger put on these boots, and the
dog eagerly followed the scent; and.
contrariwise. when, s, DIR. Romsnes
put on the strangers boots the animal
was Indifferent to his track. z. Further
experiments were made to locate the
source of the scent in the boots. The
dog did not follow the scent Of a
stranger walking in bare feet s.
When Dr. Romanes walked in bare feet
the dog followed the trace, but less
eagerly than usual, and with much
hesitation. Again, the animal did not
follow DR.. Romanes when he put on
new shooting boots. 10. Next single
sheet of brown paper was glued to tho
soles of his usual hunting boots. The
dog did not catch the trail until he
came to place where, as DR.. Romanes
had previously noted, a few square
millimetres of the paper had come of.
IL. When her master walked in new
cotton socks, the trail was lazily fol-
lowed, and soon given up. With
wooden socks worn all day the result
was the same. II. DR.. Romancs next
walked fifty yards in shooting boots;
then three hundred yards in his stock
ing soles. carrying his boots; then
six hundred yards in his bare
feet. The animal caught the scent
and followed it unhesitatingly through
the whole distance, though the trace
made by stockings or bare feet alone
was not enough to guide the animal.
10. The next test was modification OF
the last. d.. Romanes and a stranger
entered the carriage and drove for sew
eral hundred yards. The former, in
his hunting boots, then alghted and
walked fifty yards whereupon he re-
entered the carriage, and the stranger
walked the next two hundred yards;
the dog, when shown the track, ran
the whole two hundred and fifty yards
without pausing. The experiment was
repeated with another stranger with
the same result IA. To test the power
which the dog had of selecting the dis
tinctive odor accompanying her mas
ter from other odors, DR.. Romanea
soaked his boots in anise-seed oil. The
odor was SO strong that friend could
follow the track an hour later by the
odor of the oil; yet the dog was not
confused except that she hesitated
about the first few steps, and then pur-
sued as usual.
The next test was directed toward
ascertaining whether the animal could
distinguish her master by odors eman-
ating from other portions of his per.
son. Is. DIR. Romanes after pursuing
zigzag course just trodden over by a
number of footsteps, hid behind wall,
with his eyes just visible. The animal
went at once to the hiding-place. 16,
Again, he hid in ditch, with only the
top Of his head visible. At two hun.
bred yards the dog detected his mas
ter and went to him directly.
From these tests DR.. Romanes con
cludes that the dog distinguishes him
from all others by the odor Of his boots
| (l-6), and does not distinguish him in
his naked feet (S-1D. The odor il
probably emitted by the feet, but must
be mixed with that of shoe-leather tc
| be of service to the dog. This is doubt
less matter of education; had the
dog been used to following her master
when without shoes, the animal would
have learned to follow him thus The
| characteristic odor can not penetrate q
sheet of brown paper, but few square
millimetres of surface is sufficient tc
give the dog the clue. The animal il
ready to be guided by inference as vel
as by perception, but the inference il
instantaneous az and Is as compared
with 2, and 1I. Lastly, not only the
feet (through the boots), but the whole
body emits an ordor that the dog car
distinguish in mass of others Q5).
This odor is recognized at great dis
tances to windward Q5), or in calm
weather in any direction Q6); it is no
overpowered by aniseseed oil (14) Oh
by the footprints of another (I.-Sci
ence.